


Unwanted Honor

by completelyhopeless



Series: Persuaded Universe [5]
Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comment Fic, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3448520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/completelyhopeless/pseuds/completelyhopeless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard feels out of place at the dinner party they're throwing for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unwanted Honor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/gifts).



> For the prompt: _[any. any. It feels weird to be called to sit on the place of honor tonight.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/571977.html?thread=80029257#t80029257)_
> 
> I read somewhere that the "mystery" in Jane Austen's novels was the heroine not knowing what the hero was up to, and I did consider that a lot in writing this, not sure if I would go into Dick's point of view (yeah, I know, hard to believe because it's me) but then I saw this prompt again and said it was Dick at the dinner party and wrote.

* * *

The whole thing was a farce.

They'd like that word, all the ones that told him to better himself. He just grimaced and reached for his wine glass, wanting something stronger, a way to make this night pass faster. He told himself to remember the circus, to think of it like a performance—Babs' butler had once told him that when he'd found Richard hiding rather than face her family and that disastrous dinner where he'd had no idea how to behave in front of all those “genteel” people.

That advice had sustained Richard more times than he wanted to think about over the years, and he owed much to Alfred. Seeing him again was just about the only thing that made being paid off worth it. Richard didn't want to be on land again. He missed his ship, missed his freedom.

He had not missed this. He did not want to be on display, but he was. This time was different from in the past where the baronet and his oldest daughter sneered down their noses at him, where they expected him to be uncivilized. This time everyone watched and listened and hung on his words like he was the most fascinating creature they had ever known, laughing not at him but at his stories.

They treated him like an honored guest.

He found a certain sickness in his stomach when he thought about it. Had this been a few years back, he would have been too far beneath them in society to be invited into their home. He would have been despised and brought in only so he could humiliate himself. This time, though, he was welcome. This time he had money.

That made him suddenly desirable. They want his company, his stories, his supposed expertise.

They wanted his money.

He knew both of his host's daughters were fawning over him, and he had to wonder if they would even have bothered eight years ago.

His eyes went across the table, drawn to someone that he'd believed didn't care about that, someone he'd given his heart to years ago. Her eyes met his for a minute, a flush coming into her cheeks, and then she looked down at her plate.

He took another sip of his wine, smiling when one of the other girls asked him for another story about the navy. That was the price of the place of honor, one he didn't want and would trade away in an instant if only to have one person—he looked at Babs again, seeing her push her food around her plate with a fork, her eyes focused on the ceramic—treat him like _him._ He didn't want honor.

He wanted someone who knew him for who he was, for who he'd been, and admired _all_ of it, not just the time he'd spent in the navy but his past in the circus and everything that came with it. Would they still admire him if they knew about his mixed blood?

He doubted it.

If it had come between him and Barbara, it would come between him and everyone. It was only a matter of time.


End file.
